Combination cytotoxic effects of cis-diamminedichloroplatinum(II) and 5-fluorouracil with and without leucovorin against human non-small cell lung cancer cell lines

Both cisplatin (CDDP) and leucovorin (LV) have been shown to enhance cytotoxicity of 5-fluorouracil (FUra) against murine and human neoplasms by increasing intracellular reduced folate concentrations. We were interested in their use in a combination to inhibit non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) cell growth and therefore conducted an in vitro study to investigate the cytotoxic activities of combinations of CDDP plus FUra, with and without LV (20 microM), against seven NSCLC cell lines. A tetrazolium assay with application of the classical isobole method was used to test drug combinations. We found that LV enhanced FUra but not CDDP cytotoxicity and that the degree of enhancement was negatively correlated with the effect of FUra. There was an overall additive combination effect of CDDP plus FUra, although there may be synergy at higher effect levels. There was synergy to a combination of CDDP, FUra, and LV, presumably primarily related to the synergistic effects of adding LV to FUra. In summary, LV and CDDP enhanced FUra cytotoxicity in a complementary fashion and there was clear synergy of a combination of CDDP, FUra, and LV against a panel of NSCLC cell lines. Our in vitro results provide a rationale for controlled clinical studies of this three-drug regimen in patients with NSCLC.     

Limit cycle prediction of a neurocontrol vehicle system based on gain-phase margin analysis

Based on some useful frequency domain methods, this paper proposes a systematic procedure to address the limit cycle prediction of a neural vehicle control system with adjustable parameters. A simple neurocontroller can be linearized by using describing function method firstly. According to the classical method of parameter plane, the stability of linearized system with adjustable parameters is then considered. In addition, gain margin and phase margin for limit cycle generation are also analyzed by adding a gain-phase margin tester into open loop system. Computer simulations show the efficiency of this approach.     

Is cheating a human function? The roles of presence,state hostility,and enjoyment in an unfair video game

In sports and board games, when an opponent cheats, the other players typically greet it with disdain, anger, and disengagement. However, work has yet to fully address the role of the computer cheating in video games. In this study, participants played either a cheating or a non-cheating version of a modified open-source tower-defense game. Results indicate that when a computer competitor cheats, players perceive the opponent as being more human. Cheating also increases player aggravation and presence, but does not affect enjoyment of the experience. Additionally, players that firmly believed that their opponent was controlled by the computer exhibited significantly less state hostility compared to players that were less certain of the nature of their competitor. Game designers can integrate subtle levels of cheating into computer opponents without any real negative responses from the players. The results indicate that minor levels of cheating might also increase player engagement with video games.     

Describing function analysis of uncertain fuzzy vehicle control systems

In this paper, some useful frequency domain methods including describing function, parameter space, and Kharitonov approach are applied to analyze the stability of an uncertain fuzzy vehicle control system for limit cycle prediction. A systematic procedure is proposed to solve this problem. The fuzzy controller can be linearized by the use of classical describing function firstly. By doing so, it is feasible to treat the stability problem of a fuzzy control system as linear one. In order to consider the robustness of a fuzzy vehicle control system, parameter space method and Kharitonov approach are then employed for plotting the stability boundaries. Furthermore, the effect of transport delay is also addressed. More information of limit cycles can be obtained by this approach. This work shows that the limit cycles caused by a static fuzzy controller can be easily suppressed if the system parameters are chosen carefully.     

Analysis of simplified position and 5-DOF total orientation workspaces of a hexapod mechanism

The exact positional and total orientation workspaces of a hexapod parallel mechanism are three-dimensional volumes that are too complicated for an operator to make use of, but a knowledge of them is indispensable in order to avoid collisions with the environment and to locate the workpiece. Fortunately, the positional and total orientation workspaces of a symmetric simplified architecture (the SSM type) can be bounded from inside and outside by ellipsoids symmetric about the z-axis. Accordingly, this paper presents closed-form solutions for the radii of the inscribed and circumscribed circles of the positional workspace and approximate solutions for the total orientation workspace at any given height. These solutions can be plotted on a two-dimensional graph that is convenient for an operator on the shop floor. Furthermore, these solutions can be developed into a simple procedure for the design of a prescribed workspace.     

Backlit Keyboard Inspection Using Machine Vision

A robust system for backlit keyboard inspection is revealed. The backlit keyboard not only has changeable diverse colors but also has the laser marking keys. The keys on the keyboard can be divided into regions of function keys, normal keys, and number keys. However, there might have some types of defects:incorrect illuminating area, non-uniform illumination of specified inspection region (IR), and incorrect luminance and intensity of individual key. Since the illumination features of backlit keyboard are too complex to inspect for human inspector in the production line, an auto-mated inspection system for the backlit keyboard is proposed in this paper. The system was designed into the operation module and inspection module. A set of image processing methods were developed for these defects inspection. Some experimental results demonstrate the robustness and effectiveness of the proposed system.     

Highly conductive mesoporous hierarchical carbon hollow fibers fabricated via confinement of TiO2 coating by ALD

A polysulfone (PSF) hollow fiber composed of interconnected nanofibers within its wall was employed as a template to deposit with a layer of TiO₂ by atomic layer deposition. Direct nitridation of the TiO₂-coated PSF hollow fiber at 800 and 1000°C was conducted, and a new hierarchical structure of TiO_xN_1−x and TiN@nitrogen-doped carbon hollow fibers, respectively, was formed. The PSF fiber served as the source of carbon and was directly transformed to a nitrogen-doped carbon fiber because the shape change was confined by the TiO₂ coating. In the meantime, TiO_xN_1−x or TiN was formed after the nitridation of TiO₂. X-ray photoelectron spectrometric analysis indicated that there was no chemical bonding between the nitridized coating and the carbon nanofibers. It implies that the nitridation of TiO₂ and carbonization of PSF proceed independently and simultaneously in the nitridation process. Raman spectroscopic analysis also confirmed the formation of graphitic lattice and Ti–N bonding. Electrical measurement indicated that both fibers were highly conductive, with the electrical resistivity in the order of 10⁻⁵ Ω m, which is lower than those of amorphous carbon and graphite along the direction perpendicular to the basal plane.     

HEAT TRANSFER AUGMENTATION OF MIXED CONVECTION THROUGH VORTEX SHEDDING FROM AN INCLINED PLATE IN A VERTICAL CHANNEL CONTAINING HEATED BLOCKS

A numerical analysis is made of the unsteady flow and heat transfer characteristics of mixed convection in a vertical block-heated channel with and without installing an inclined plate above an upstream block. Parameter studies including the inclined plate angle, Reynolds number (ranging from 260 to 530), and Grashof number (in the range of 0-3,200,000) on heat transfer performance have been explored in detail. The results show that the installation of an inclined plate in the vertical block-heated channel can effectively augment the blocks' heat transfer performance in the channel.     

Characterization of PAHs in the atmosphere of carbon black manufacturing workplaces

The objective of this study was set out to characterize the polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) content in the atmosphere of an oil furnace carbon black manufacturing plant located in southern Taiwan. A standard semi-volatile sampling train, the PS-1 sampler, was used to collect samples from eight areas, including the feedstock oil unloading, furnace, filtering/micro-pulverization, pelletizing, packaging, office/outside, office/inside, and boundary area, respectively. For each area, side-by-side static samples were collected simultaneously and a total of 16 samples were obtained. For each collected sample, the adsorbent-retained PAH content and the filter-retained PAH content were used directly to determine the concentrations of gaseous-phase PAHs and particle-bound PAHs, respectively. The gas chromatograph/mass spectrometer (GC/MS) technique was used for PAH analyses, and a total of 21 PAH species were determined. Results show the gaseous-phase PAHs accounted for only 69.2% of the total PAH content for samples collected from the packaging area, which was significantly lower than those samples collected from the rest of seven areas (ranging from 96.3 to 99.7%). The result is not so surprising since the packaging area had the highest dust concentration due to the releasing of carbon black dusts during the packaging process. In this study, we further examine the contribution of gaseous-phase PAHs to the total benzo[a]pyrene equivalent (BaP(eq)) content from the health-risk assessment view of point. It can be found the contribution of gaseous-phase PAHs to the total BaP(eq) content (63.1%) was quite comparable to the corresponding contribution to the total PAH content for samples collected from the packaging area. However, a different trend can be found for samples collected from the other seven areas, where the contributions of gaseous-phase PAHs to the total BaP(eq) content (ranging from 67.7 to 93.4%) were lower than the corresponding contributions to the total PAH content. The above results can be explained by PAH homologues that contained in both gaseous-phase and particle-bound PAHs. It was found the gaseous-phase PAHs contained higher fractions of less carcinogenic low molecular weight PAH homologues, whereas particle-bound PAHs contained higher fractions of more carcinogenic high molecular weight PAH homologues. Considering the contributions of gaseous-phase PAHs to both total PAH content and total BaP(eq) content were well above 50% for the eight studied areas, it is concluded that both particle-bound and gaseous-phase PAHs should be included for assessing the exposures of carbon black workers.     

Exploring the Bidding Situation for Economically Most Advantageous Tender Projects Using a Bidding Game

Most open tendering procedures in the real world are highly complex, uncertain, and costly. With an increasing emphasis on the quality and value of procurement, economically most advantageous tender (EMAT) has been widely adopted as an alternative contract-awarding criteria, which has changed competitive strategies in the construction industry. A conceptual model of competitive bidding in EMAT is first established to reflect the credibility of the bidding situation. A bidding game for EMAT projects is performed by 24 participants to partially test the conceptual model. The result reveals that the game has the potential to reveal important factors in the bidding situation, simulate competitive bidding behaviors, and explore competitive advantages in the EMAT bidding process. The learning effect from the game should be useful for contractors who are preparing to deliver optimal tenders in EMAT projects.